Scientists reveal that plants can feel when we touch them

It's something that plant lovers have long suspected, but now
Australian scientists have found evidence that plants really can
feel when we're touching them.

Not only that, but different sensations trigger a cascade of
physiological and genetic changes, depending on the stimulation
the plants are receiving, whether it's a few drops of rain, or a
little soft pat, which is probably the coolest thing we've heard
all week.

"Although people generally assume plants don’t feel when they are
being touched, this shows that they are actually very sensitive
to it," said lead researcher Olivier Van Aken from the
University of Western Australia.

"While plants don’t appear to complain when we pinch a flower,
step on them or just brush by them while going for a walk, they
are fully aware of this contact and are rapidly responding to our
treatment of them," he added.

But first thing's first, let's not get ahead of ourselves and
anthropomorphize the crap out of this situation,
as we humans love to do. Although this whole thing sounds super
adorable and touchy feely, plants don't have brains and they
don't "think".

We also don't have evidence to suggest that they actually "feel"
in any way resembling our perception of the sense.

While there's no visible response to any of this stimulus, what
this input does is help the plant stay aware of its surroundings
and prepare itself for any potential danger, or get ready to take
advantage of changing weather conditions.

One thing the scientists found was that spraying water droplets
on plants caused them to change the expression of thousands of
genes - a dramatic physiological response that started within
minutes of the stimulus and stopped within half an hour.

"We were able to show that this response was not caused by any
active compounds in the spray but rather by the physical contact
caused by water drops landing on the leaf surface," says Van Aken.

Curious to know how else they might respond, the team also found
that gently patting the plants or touching them with tweezers
could trigger a similar physiological cascade. So could a sudden
shadow falling over their leaves.

All of this information could be essential to plants survival in
the wild, the researchers explain in the journal Plant Physiology.

"Unlike animals, plants are unable to run away from harmful
conditions. Instead, plants appear to have developed intricate
stress defence systems to sense their environment and help them
detect danger and respond appropriately," says Van Aken.

Importantly, the study also identified two proteins that could
switch off the plant's touch response. In the future, this could
help plants in controlled environments, such as greenhouses, from
changing their genes and responding to "false alarm" stimuli.

One study on its own obviously isn't enough to overhaul our
understanding of plant stimulation perception, and more research
is needed to replicate the finds. But for now, maybe we should
all be more thoughtful when we're prodding and poking our plants,
or blocking their light with our giant human heads.

The good news? Singing seems to be pretty safe. "As yet,
there's no evidence to back the idea held by some people that the
vibrations caused by just talking to plants has a strong enough
effect to move plants," Van Aken told Peter Spinks from theThe Age.